Matt Reeves' The Batman Review [SPOILERS]

Not that y'all asked for another review, but you know Batman fans gotta let their voice be heard on that new movie. And by "heard" I mean I have to let all of these thoughts out somewhere before I explode because nobody is built to listen to me talk this much about Batman in real life. Hah. I'm here with a review of The Batman for you (and myself)... while I listen to the soundtrack. Since I have so many thoughts, my ability to write in paragraphs is mediocre at best, and I love lists, I decided to do this in a bulleted format. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts below and why. Feel free to leave some comments. 

If you haven't gone to see The Batman yet, I recommend seeing it in theaters! I know it's coming to HBO Max next month, but I personally think it's worth seeing on a big screen for the cinematography. 

Let's get at it!

WHY I LOVED IT

• Batman as a detective
• I sometimes find myself explaining to non-Batman fans that Batman is the WORLD'S GREATEST DETECTIVE because it's not necessarily something that your average person understands about The Dark Knight. It's one of the (many) reasons why Batman fans love him so much. He's intelligent and thoughtful and introspective and observant and this movie showcased that more than ANY other major Batman film we've gotten over the last several decades.
• I also believe this is the exact reason why they wanted to utilize The Riddler as the villain because the villains are often a vehicle used in Batman media to showcase and reflect Batman's talents, skills, or sometimes even pitfalls. The Riddler is the perfect villain to highlight Batman's detective skills.
• The movie did this in such subtle ways too. One not-as-subtle example is when he would pipe up with answers to riddles while others (usually police officers) talked and jostled around him. In the first crime scene where Mayor Mitchell is found dead, he calmly observes the scene and the movie does not need to overtly explain that he is observing, learning, deciphering, solving. He later explains how a murder weapon matched something he found at the crime scene (which was much earlier in the film). While observing the torture contraption that killed Commissioner Savage and IN THE MIDDLE of a full-on conversation with Jim Gordon, he finds matching symbols that lead to the discovery of the second letter/card from the Riddler. In the Riddler's apartment with Officer Martinez, he does not say a word but is constantly listening to Martinez who leads him to discover the Riddler's final plans for the city.
• I also wanted to add that a few friends said Bats is actually NOT that great a detective in this movie since he took so long to figure out the Rata Alada clue and didn't realize that the flashing lights on Riddler's apartment floor were obviously bombs. 🤣 They made valid points, but I do stand by that I loved all the detective work/aspects of this movie.
• Catwomam
• I know there are still people out there who love Michelle Pfeiffer and Anne Hathaway more and I don't blame them, but Zoë Kravitz and the way they wrote Selina Kyle are exactly how I imagined Catwoman on the big screen. I loved her pixie haircut (I've always preferred that Catwoman look) and the different wigs she wore throughout the movie. Her care/concern for Annika is so true to her character. Yes, she's fiercely independent and a very skilled thief, but she's also passionate and cares so deeply. Kravitz did such an amazing job showcasing the complexities of this character. I think she might even be my favorite character in the entire movie. Sorry, Battinson.
• Bonus, she says to Bats during a confrontation, "With the way you talk, you must have been raised rich.", Get 'im, Selina. 🤣
• The BatCat relationship
• INJECT THIS CHEMISTRY INTO MY VEINS! Batman and Catwoman are forever and always my OTP and I cannot thank Matt Reeves, the writers, Pattinson, and Kravitz ENOUGH for giving me what my little Batman fan heart desires on the big screen. Watching their unique and tender relationship unfold as the story progressed was so satisfying as a BatCat fan.
• The relationship seemed very organic and unforced between Batman and Catwoman. They slow-rolled it enough that it all made sense to me.
• At the end of the day though, Batman only has time for Batman and possibly my favorite scene from the movie was when Catwoman is trying to convince Batman to leave Gotham with her. She says"The Bat and the Cat. It's got a nice ring" only to catch Batman staring at the Bat signal in the sky so she follows with "Who am I kidding? You're already spoken for." 😭 It's the most Batman thing ever. It's so true to him, them, their relationship. As they drive their motorcycles in different directions, he looks back at Catwoman in his sideview mirror one last time before speeding up on his way back into the heart of Gotham. Batman is gonna be Batman, but he's soft on her! It's so sweet and breaks my heart while making it so happy at the same time if that even makes sense.
• Not gory (but still violent)
• I am not big on horror or gore so I didn't realize how much I'd appreciate them not actually showing close-ups or extended scenes of torture or deaths. It was very clear when someone died or was dead so that was enough for me to keep the story moving along. Just leave the deaths to my imagination. Thank you.
• Fight scenes and level of violence were still well done though.
• All the gadgets!
• I liked that this wasn't an origin story for Batman unlike Batman Begins and The Dark Knight where they use quite a bit of the story to explain his gear. Instead, in this movie, Batman is just out here with his gadgets doing his Batman thing. He's just always prepared and I love seeing it. Some examples include the flight suit he had ready to go as he realized he had to jump off a skyscraper, the small explosive he had on hand to blow up the fire extinguisher in the arena toward the end of the movie, the Batmobile tucked away in the alley, adrenaline (or venom?) and the hole flap built into his suit so that he could inject himself, the knife built into this chest plate, the grappling hook of course, the CONTACT LENS CAMERA. Whew. I'm probably missing something, but the point is they never had to explain any of it. You just understood he's Batman and he's going to always be prepared which is another reason why Batman fans love him so much and why this movie is so great at portraying our favorite superhero.
• Young and unrefined Batman
• Some fans may not have liked this part of the movie, but I quite enjoyed the fact that he was unrefined and still clearly learning. He's supposed to be just 2 years into being Batman so it makes sense that his eyes widened quite a bit before he zipped up his flight suit and jumped off the skyscraper... and then got caught on a bridge and totally ate shit. 😆 I anticipate his martial arts training world tour didn't necessarily cover jumping off skyscrapers. He also got hit quite a bit by average goons which was kind of more fun to watch than Batman dodging everything. It was believable for me. He even got hit by a shotgun. Rookie move, Bats, but you'll learn. Knowing him, he won't be letting that happen again any time soon.
• Bruce Wayne vs. Batman
• I loved that they highlighted how differently people treated Bruce Wayne vs. Batman. For example, Officier Martinez calls Batman a freak, but is very excited to see Bruce Wayne at a funeral. The twins who cover the door at the Iceberg Lounge immediately get confrontational with Batman, but are excited and even surprised to see Bruce Wayne at their door and allow him in with no trouble.
• I also liked that the average citizen was not a fan of Bruce Wayne, highlighting his privilege and comfortable lifestyle compared to the typical Gothamite. It felt much more grounded. Not everyone is going to be a Batman or Bruce Wayne fan.
• James Gordon
• Jeffrey Wright was really fun as Jim. He added moments of light humor that felt natural for the tone of the movie. A lot of people loved his fake interrogation scene with Batman. I personally loved the follow up to that scene where he says to Bats "You could have at least pulled that punch, man" to which Bats stoically confirms he did. Hah.
• Although him saying "I only trust you" to Batman was a bit of an extreme. He must have been extremely jaded by that point in the movie, enough to only trust a man dressed as a Bat.
• Monologues
• I enjoyed the Batman monologues. It felt more like a comic book in that sense since we often get to read the internal dialogue of characters on the pages.
• Lighting and music highlights
• My favorite use of lighting was during the hallway fight scene just outside an elevator at the Iceberg Lounge when Batman shut off the lights and snuck in. It was pitch-black except anytime someone was trying to shoot at Batman. Only the gunfire would light up the screen and just enough for you to see Batman pummel people. It was great
• My favorite use of music was when Batman visited the Riddler in Arkham Asylum. You're led to believe that Riddler has figured out Batman's identity and the music builds throughout Riddler's monologue forcing you to feel the anxiety that Batman is likely feeling in that moment until you learn, at some point in the speech, that Riddler does NOT actually know. The tension completely disappears and the music completely stops. It was really well done.
• Robert Pattinson's Batman side eye
• That's it. I enjoyed every time he just side-eyed someone.

THINGS I THOUGHT WERE OKAY AND OTHER NOTES

• Soundtrack
• I appreciated the use of music and the soundtrack worked well enough for the tone of the movie, but I still prefer the soundtrack to The Dark Knight trilogy better. I didn't fall in love with the soundtrack like other fans may have, but this is likely just a preference. Not all music is for everyone.
• Emo/moody Batman and Bruce Wayne
• I think the music definitely leaned into the emo/moody protagonist vibes. I get the emo/moody Batman. It's not super uncommon, but having that bleed into the Bruce Wayne persona  100% of the time was a bit lazy. I have been telling people that it makes sense because he's only 2 years into being Batman and he perhaps still has that time and room to grow into his billionaire playboy persona. I think Robert Pattinson could do it if written that way, but with his Bruce Wayne as is, I'm surprised the whole city hasn't figured out he's Batman already. Hah. He needs Bruce Wayne to be his "mask" to the general public.
• Suit
• Overall, I again understand he's only 2 years in and there's plenty of room for him to upgrade his suit and gear, but it's not something I was necessarily excited about from the movie. After watching the movie a couple of times, I did feel like the suit was at least very functional.
• Riddler
• I enjoyed the use of Riddler as a villain, but this version of Riddler wasn't my favorite. Like I mentioned above, he served his purpose in the storyline, but I'm personally partial to the villain portrayals from Batman: The Animated Series which I undestand may not necessarily work in a live-action film. It's also possible this may be me holding up any live-action Batman antagonist to Heath Ledger's Joker performance as a standard, which is a lot to live up to.
• Penguin
• Again, I'm partial to the villain portrayals from Batman: The Animated Series so I kind of miss what I describe as "bitchass posh Penguin," but Colin Farrell was great as usual. I still can't get over the makeup. Even if you know it's him, you can never tell.
• THE LENGTH!!!
• No movie should be 3 hours long. I was really upset when Avenger: End Game was announced at over 3 hours and just because I love Batman doesn't mean I'd be okay with a 3-hour-long Batman movie. At the same time, I thought all of the scenes were well used so maybe they could have reduced the silences or made Batman walk faster? Something. Just make it shorter.
• Barry Keoghan as the Joker in Arkham Asylum
• Fun fan service, but you could have definitely done without this scene.

Overall, I'd give it a solid 9/10. I still believe The Dark Knight is objectively a better movie, but I would much prefer to watch The Batman over and over again as a Batman fan. Let me know what you think of the movie and if you agree/disagree with any of the above in the comments! In the meantime, enjoy some photos from my experience at Regal and Alamo Drafthouse during the opening week for The Batman below!

Regal IMAX

Alamo Drafthouse